Ratchet & Clank

In an industry obsessed with endless sequels and "franchises", it
makes a nice change to be greeted with some new characters. Sony
recent track record in introducing new "brands" deserves credit,
with recent examples such as Jak & Daxter, and the forthcoming
The Getaway, Sly Racoon and Primal all looking worthy of any
discerning gamer's attention.

So what of Ratchet & Clank, its second double act platformer in
a year? Following on from the critical and commercial success of
Naughty Dog's lauded Jak & Daxter, we hoped that Insomniac's
first non Spyro effort would be in a similar league.

Dastardly

Where next, our hero muses

As with any platformer worth
its salt, it has the usual good versus evil tale to tell, and guess
which side you're on? The evil Chairman Drek is determined to use
the best bits of other planets to build a new planet for the
inhabitants of his polluted world, Orxon. This, obviously, doesn't
sit very well with the rest of the galaxy, and it's up to crack
floppy eared mechanic Ratchet and cunning robot Clank to foil his
dastardly plans.

Anyone familiar with last year's Jak & Daxter will be
immediately at home with Ratchet & Clank. Technically, it's on
the same solid ground, being built with Naughty Dog's rather nifty
technology that grants the player stunning views of each
intricately designed level.

And the control system is practically identical, with movement
controlled by the left analogue stick and camera rotation with the
right stick, while the four main buttons are used for jump, and
weapon select/usage. Meanwhile, the shoulder buttons activate first
person view, and crouch, and it's a system that works well for the
most part.

Gratuitous bot gag here

If in doubt, electrocute - words to live by, there

Each
level, or planet if you will, presents you with a number of
objectives, which basically boil down to having to work through
each level destroying progressively tougher enemies, pick up the
resulting bolts (which are magnetically attracted to Clank), and
eventually reach a particular character who will present you with a
crucial object or Infobot with which to travel to your next planet
- and hence move on the plot.

Hardly revolutionary stuff, we're sure you're thinking, but where
Ratchet & Clank tries to innovate and charm is through the
numerous gadgets and weapons that you get to grips with. The
aforementioned bolts you gather act as currency, and each planet
has its own shop in which you can buy ammo and meatier firepower.
But in addition, you also get rewarded with assorted artefacts for
your pains, which vary from the humdrum, but effective Blaster to
the surreal Taunter - a device that emits comedy noises, and often
stupefies enemies to allow for easy despatch.

In fact, each of the 35 gadgets and weapons you gather during the
game have their own specific uses, although strictly speaking there
are often multiple ways to wipe out your enemies - and progression
can be a case of working out which is the most effective weapon.
But time is of the essence, and selecting the right gadget or
weapon at any one time can seem a bit fiddly to begin with, as it
involves hitting triangle, scrolling through the available choices
with the D-pad, and selecting the one you want. This, when there
are multiple enemies descending upon you, can easily result in
death, but it's possible to define a quick select weapon, enabled
by double tapping triangle. Even so, in a major battle it's still a
muddle trying to juggle which weapon you need, and this should have
been managed with more elegance.

Just as well, then, that you're never forced to backtrack too far,
as the game intelligently and mercifully saves your progress for
you. You still have to wipe out the enemies all over again, but it
does at least spare you the task of breaking open boxes again. This
approach certainly saves it from being a Blinx-esque joypad
smashing horror show, and recognition of your progression, rather
than forcing you to start from scratch every time. Such basics make
you feel good about playing R&C, and will drive you on towards
completing the game, although we reckon most of you will have it
cracked in 15 to 20 hours.

Not just for kids

J&D's, er, reign hasn't come to an end just yet [fired -Ed]

If you objected to Spyro's kid friendly leanings, you'll be
pleasantly surprised to find that R&C has much more of a
universal appeal than the cutesy dragon ever did. The game can come
across as quirky and comical, and it is, but R&C never descends
to irritating slapstick, and instead there it ascends to almost
Pixar-esque heights - especially during the many amusing and
exceptionally well rendered cut scenes.

Variety is also one of R&C's strengths, and as with its
spiritual cousin Jak & Daxter, you get to engage in some
welcome diversions such as rail grinding and hoverboard racing. The
occasional set piece, such as having to escape from a flooded area,
also helps break up the action, as does the appearance of a
(predictably gigantic) boss. Somehow these disparate elements all
add up to one compelling whole, which drives you on in search of
the next section.

Another area Insomniac deserve serious applause is on the visual
side. Nearly every planet is stunning, featuring vast views, and
incredibly detailed flora and fauna that even moves convincingly
when you brush against it. Often you get the chance to ride
elevators that sweep you through the level, giving players a chance
to really take in the sights. The character modelling is also well
up to standard and is not only detailed and well animated, but full
of incidental touches that really bring the game to life. R&C
pushes the PS2 further than just about any game of its type; it's
almost entirely bereft of the dreaded jaggy, and has none of the
cardboard cut-out/blocky scenery that blights so many games.
However, if there is one criticism it's the slightly muddy colour
scheme that sometimes doesn't quite do the artwork justice, but
that's just down to personal taste.

Lights! Dodgy camera! Action! Death!

Red bastard #1 jumps the blow

Naturally there are a few
areas that make R&C slightly less than perfect. For starters
it's saddled with is the same camera problems that blighted
J&D. Most of the time it acts intelligently and you'll hardly
have to use the right analogue to adjust it. However, when it does
choose to be idiotic, it generally waits for the moments that you
need it to be on your side - such as during boss encounters where
it decides that giving you a good view of the boss is a much better
idea than allowing you to see where the hell you're going.

Also, the game lacks the freedom of J&D to roam from one end of
the game world to another, being limited instead to a comparatively
linear approach where you're forced to wait thirty seconds while
you fly between planets. The abandonment of the fantastic "no load"
principle makes R&C feel something of a backward step, and as a
result makes it feel more like the linear platform games of old
rather than the expansive cohesive experience of Naughty Dog's
recent epic.

That's not to say we didn't enjoy R&C, because we obviously
did. In fact it's hard not to enjoy what is quite easily one of the
best platformers on the PS2. It's addictive, tells a good, amusing
yarn, looks spectacular and is challenging without ever being
annoying. If you're even remotely into run, jump and collect epics,
then you have to give R&C a look. It's not our favourite
platform game ever, but it's pretty damn close.